URBAN OASIS

CITIESALIVE Student Design Challenge

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In 2013, a group of students and I from CU Boulder Landscape Studio entered the CitiesAlive Student Design Challenge to Revitalize the Tenderloin Recreation Center. The competition was to design a new recreation center serving children in the heart of downtown San Francisco, the Tenderloin District.

The center was designed to be environmentally friendly. The facade was a hybrid of both green walls and green facade technology; to help reduce the heat island effect in a city and to improve the air quality. The green wall sections of the facade would grow flowers, various vegetables, and plants. The facade would increase the R-value of the wall to help keep the building cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Stormwater would be collected through the playground retention basin and then filtered through a bioremediation system before being released off-site. 

Roof gardens were filled with edible landscape for the community to harvest food and provide fresh produce to local restaurants in the Tenderloin District. Gardening education would be provided to children and community members. The playground featured biophilic designs to reconnect with natural elements. A giant courtyard, protected from the street, would be the central node connecting all various activities this center offers. 

The goal of our design was to help improve the environment, educate the community, and create a place for a stronger sense of community.